


Correspondence From the Edge of Beyond

by The_Fenspace_Collective



Series: Candle In The Dark: A Peculiar Saga of the Sea of Time [3]
Category: BattleTech: MechWarrior, Fenspace
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Epistolary, Gen, We're bringing the supernatural to Battletech and nobody can stop us!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-14 17:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 7,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1274401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fenspace_Collective/pseuds/The_Fenspace_Collective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of letters between various parties in Fenspace, the Inner Sphere and beyond during the length and breadth of <i>Candle in the Dark</i>. Some minor spoilers for events that haven't happened yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Coven of the Northern Star  
Deepwell, Fletcher, FWL  
15 April 3039

Gretchen Wagner  
Spheric Alley, Antallos, FC  


Dear M. Wagner,

I and the Coven wish to thank you for the gift of knowledge you provided after our last correspondence. The _Gernsback Codex_ will be invaluable to our order. (Of course we know that isn’t the proper name, but _Theories and Mathematics Describing Supernatural Energies_ is far too soulless a name and the other title, _The Big Book of Shiny Objects_ , far too irreverent. It amazes me how you Fen manage to maintain a civilization with only a few handfuls of respect for tradition!) The original electronic copy has been duplicated and we are distributing it per our deal; in the meantime I’ve ordered a proper bound copy created, one which will be hand-transcribed and illuminated to be our primary reference copy and an heirloom of the Coven. Also it will give some of the younger initiates something to do in their off-hours, but please don’t say anything to them.

Our experiments with the _Codex_ have been enlightnening, albeit a bit frustrating. Only a few members of the Coven have been able to do anything beyond the basic examples found in the _Codex_. Most of these members are either younger initiates born after the Event or are some of our eldest who remember the Event, which suggests a connection of some sorts. In any case, they have been able to work some wonders as well as locate a place of power in the mountains north of Deepwell. We intend to build a lodge as close to the center as possible for future training and meditation, and continue to map the lines of force around Fletcher.

Some of our initiates who have not yet been able to use the Codex to any effect are a bit disgruntled by the whole affair. It’s hard to blame them, to be honest: with wonders now just within reach they still cannot manage to take that last step and grasp them. I’m given to understand that your society has an issue with similar people, I believe you call them “squibs?” If you could please assist us in how to deal with this issue the Coven would be most grateful.

I should speak again on the subject of Fletcher’s places of power. The Codex says (in elliptical language) that power tends to congregate and align itself along areas of spiritual or other deep significance to humankind. The examples in the book are Uluru and Tranquility Base in the Terra system. (Which I found interesting considering the distance between Terra and the Gernsback Expanse, though that is an aside.) There are similar places on Fletcher: the site of the explorer’s first landing, numerous churches and so on. However, our initial scryings suggest that the places of power here are not based in the human realm. The one place we have located is far from the cities and major settlements, and no one we have talked to has said anything about the mountain having any spiritual significance to anyone in the region in Fletcher’s recorded history.

Could it be that we’ve found something new? It seems unlikely that we have found something nonhuman, but it could be that the pattern of settlement on this world has shifted the lines of power in different directions. Your experiences in settling non-Terran worlds might provide us with more of a clue to our mystery. 

I hope that you will be able to provide greater illumination on these issues as the years progress and we join your people in the light of Truth, Knowledge and True Power. May the stars continue to shine on us all.

Warmest regards,

<sig>

Nicolau Abreu

Master of Books, Coven of the Northern Star


	2. Chapter 2

Tikonovgrad, Tikonov  
27 October 3027

Dear sister,

Time is an amazing thing, isn’t it? A year ago we were all on Sian, perfectly secure in our little plots and plans and now look at us, scattered to the four winds by the storm currently raging around us. The Confederation has been a stable society for so long that I doubt anybody saw this coming; certainly Father didn’t, or else he would’ve spent more time reinforcing his rule rather than suborning Hasek or playing games with Davion. And he most especially shouldn’t have tried playing with those devils from the Gernsback Expanse.

I say ‘devils’ even though I know many Fen and count some of them as close friends (And here I can see you rolling your eyes at the very idea that I might have close friends. The worlds change, my dear, and so do I.) that is really the role they’ve cast themselves for the great houses. They provide advice or knowledge or that sweetest thing to all the houses, technology. And all they ask in return is for access. To let their ships and goods cross our borders - they even agree to pay tariffs and taxes! Without complaint! (If Father had a single ounce of good sense in his head he would’ve seen something wrong right there when the ambassador said that.) And we take what they give us and we become the catalysts that the Fen can’t be, laughing all the while.

Father doesn’t understand that, I don’t think he’s capable of understanding that really. All he sees is a mob of unruly peasants. Unruly I might grant you but there is a sense of not just purpose behind them but hope. Hope for a better future for themselves, hope for a future where they aren’t pawns in some noble’s game. Hope’s a heady thing and one that’s very hard to snuff out. Honestly, I give Father one chance in three of succeeding. If he’s lucky he might last the decade; if not I doubt he’ll last the year.

And when (not if) that day comes, you and Tormano will get to fight over the crown. Consider this my resignation from the game of thrones. I’ve learned a great deal over the last few years, and this is the one lesson the little sister can teach the elder: the only way to win is not to play. The storm around us tells me that whatever happens next the Liao family will not be welcomed back with open arms. If you want to you can argue with the people over this, or take St. Ives as your personal fief if you can hold it, or go to war against the mob and Tormano for the whole prize, but I don’t care anymore. I’m out.

In all honesty if you’re smart you’ll take that Xiang whelp you’re so fond of and who is almost certainly a spy no matter what Father’s delusions are and retire to New Avalon. Let the Fox supply you with a comfortable life as a noble exile and fade into history with only a little bitterness. I for one plan on taking the family hunting estate on New Sagan and enjoying house arrest while working on my memoirs: a tell-all of court life should be interesting enough to keep me happy I think.

I wish you luck in whatever you choose to do once things finally break, Candace. If you stay and try to fight it out, you’ll need every bit of luck you can get.

 

Respectfully,

<sig>

Romano


	3. Chapter 3

10 August 3020

MEMORANDUM FOR THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION:

Dear Minister Truston:

As per our recent conversation on the Antallos matter, you are hereby authorized to proceed with all due speed and caution upon your undertaking. Hereafter this matter shall be referred to only as Project Ozma.

It continues to be my feeling that any future considerations relative to the final dispositions of this matter should rest solely with the Privy Council and the First Prince following appropriate discussions with yourself, Dr. Faulkner and the Prince’s Champion.

<sig>

Hanse Davion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this will end well...


	4. Chapter 4

**From:** “Ambassador M. Fnord” (margaritaville.junction@korolevgrad.ufp)  
 **To:** saint.grimace@SECURE_REMAILER.blackmesa.vvs  
 **Subj:** ZERG RUSH results

Okay, so the latest intel from the Queen of Blades has come in, and it looks like we’re 99% reasonably sure that there is _no_ shadow civilization of libertarian furries lurking in the empty spaces within the Inner Sphere. Mostly. Probably. So when the battlestar _Maximum Yiffing_ shows up to demand our surrender in the name of Ron Paul and all our bitcoins we’ll know it’s because the gods hate us and not because we didn’t look hard enough. Or something.

The jury is still out on the following: Minnesota Tribe, pre-KF generation ship colonies, off-the-grid unions of “destroyed” planets from the older wars, Skynet-lite civilizations made of conscientious-objector Caspar drones, the aliens from _Independence Day_ , the Bavarian Illuminati and Atlantis. Nothing’s come back so far that says _any_ of these are a possibility, mind, just that the Queen hasn’t made an official pronouncement.

Speaking of pronouncements, the latest dump to SMOFcon says that we live in a universe that’s 85% book-compliant. Isn’t that keen? The psychohistorians are a little vague on where that last 15% goes - some of it might be dramatized for your protection but some might be legit variances between here and the canonical one. Landing in one of the gap periods is giving the historians fits - hard to tell how everything lines up when there’s like no good data on the subject. If there’s anything you’ve picked up on so far that might help talk some of them down off the ledge, forward it to me & I’ll make sure they get it.

We’re compliant enough that the wheels of revengeance are starting to turn. Luckwold’s just about ready to begin door-kicking activities on our side. This ups the ante on your side of the fence btw. We’ll send you a heads-up when we’re at departure and H-minus two weeks from arrival, just in case. While I’m sure it’d be funny if we need your help cleaning up, it’s one of those things that’d probably raise too many uncomfortable questions for everybody involved so you’re best to stay the hell away for now. 

If you’re going to go ahead with wagging the doge, your best bet is to start moving in that direction now. We’re going to make a lot of nice and distracting noise when we move, so if you want to get an in with the Road Rovers without every idiot in fifty parsecs noticing that’ll be the time. Centcom has your back in all things as usual, and of course will disavow you in a heartbeat if you screw up. So you know, no pressure.

Good luck,  
-M-


	5. Chapter 5

From: "Cynthia Luckwold" ([cluckwold@xcom.fen](mailto:cluckwold@xcom.fen))  
To: "The Society of Classic Battletech Players" ([kerensky@scbt.net](mailto:kerensky@scbt.net))  
Subj: Re: Comstar White Paper  
  
Gentlemen,  
  
Thank you for your analysis of the Comstar organization based on the materials we have at hand. My staff and I have reviewed it and, after a nice long laugh, have submitted it for cross-checking against our internal intelligence reports. Rest assured that we take Comstar seriously as an organization and as a potential adversary.  
  
We will not, however, be implementing any of your recommendations at this time. Or at any other time while I remain commander of XCOM. Your analysis states unequivocally that Comstar is unilaterally hostile to Convention/UN interests, but the sad fact of the matter is you're not interested in even _trying_ to engage with Comstar in an open fashion. I can thank Morgana that our diplomatic staff is not so blinkered by storybooks.  
  
As for your "solutions" to the Comstar issue, let me pound this through your thick little skulls: _we are not monsters, nor will we act like monsters_. What you've suggested as the preferred course of events would have the entirety of XCOM in the dock for war crimes in any civilized nation. XCOM exists to protect the people of Earth and the Convention from such atrocity, not to commit them in their names.  
  
If any of you wish to quibble, you are perfectly free to join XCOM and see the world from the other side, as it were.  
  
-Luckwold, XCOM-


	6. Chapter 6

 

14 February 3023

  
MEMORANDUM FOR THE FIRST PRINCE:  
  
CLASSIFICATION: OZMA  
  
Your Highness:  
  
Attached is a public document our agents have procured from the Fen enclave on Antallos. Please pay close attention to the document’s footnote.  
  
I don’t think I like these people.  
  
<signature>  
Quintus Allard

 

~***~

  
**Welcome to the Port Krin Interwave Connection Message Board.**  
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 **► Topic: WELCOME TO PORT KRIN (NEW VISITORS READ THIS!)**  
 **In: Boards ► Important Information**  
  
 **The_All-Seeing_Eye** _(Original Poster) (Moderator)_  
Posted on January 17th, 3023:

 

WELCOME TO PORT KRIN, GATEWAY TO THE CONVENTION!

  
If you’re reading this, then you’ve just arrived at Port Krin and have decided to stay awhile or are planning on going further into Convention space. We here at the Convention’s Antallos office thank you for coming and wish you a pleasant and safe time here at the Convention’s western gateway. To help facilitate this we’ve put together some basic advice for dealing with the more unorthodox parts of Fen life.  
  
1\. DON’T PANIC  
The oldest and most important piece of advice we can give you is to keep your head and don’t freak out. Fenspace is a very different culture from the ones that most travelers to Antallos are used to, and the chances of culture shock are going to be very high. You’re not going to understand everything, but time will help and soon enough you’ll be joining in the fun and laughing with us.  
  
2\. DON’T TRY TO BLEND IN  
It doesn’t matter if you’re some kind of superspy[1] or just a tourist, you’re not going to blend in at first. As with any foreign culture you can make people mad by the way you dress, and if you’re trying to fit in by wearing what you think the locals wear then you’ll just stick out like a sore thumb.  
  
3\. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK  
Fenspace is an open culture - we love to teach others about ourselves and learn from others in turn. With that in mind, please feel free to ask questions about us. We’re going to ask questions about you, and this way we open up new lines of communication that would otherwise have been lost.  
  
4\. BE POLITE  
There’s a lot of odd-looking people in Fenspace, yes. And there’s a lot of things that you’ve probably never seen before, or haven’t been seen in the Inner Sphere for a long, long time. So naturally you’re curious and want to find out more. When you’re talking to Fen, whether old or new, please remember that no matter how strange it is to you, for us this is everyday life. Be considerate of others when asking questions.  
  
5\. READ THE F***IN MANUAL  
Fenspace isn’t that big, but it is diverse for its size. Elsewhere on this forum are posts full of definitions, descriptions and other jargon that’ll help you tell who’s who and what’s what during your stay in the Convention. Reading these will minimize the risk of embarrassing yourself or others while mingling.  
  
6\. TOUR GUIDES ARE HANDY  
In order to create and maintain a safe environment for commerce and tourism the Convention has begun rating businesses in the Port Krin region. The business list can be found online here as well as at the Visitor’s Centers at the starport, Spheric Alley and all the major space stations. The reputable businesses all have a rating of B or higher (ranked high/low AAA - F). The tour guide also has a listing of interesting things to check out on your stay in Port Krin!  
  
7\. LONG-TERM RESIDENCY  
Many of you coming to Antallos are looking to make a new life in the Convention. The Convention welcomes new immigrants and refugees regardless of origin or circumstances. Our Immigration and Naturalization Office is in the Port Krin government quarter, along with branches in the starport, Spheric Alley and Megaroad Station. Offices are open almost all hours, and our doors are open to all.  
  
8\. HAVE FUN  
Last but not least, whether you’re here for business or pleasure, short-term or long-term, we hope you enjoy yourself and want to return. It’s what going to new places and meeting new people is about, after all.  
  
  
  
  
[1] To all the spies who come to this happy place, welcome. If you get lonely, there’s plenty of your colleagues to play with: Port Krin currently has the highest spy:civilian ratio of any place in the Inner Sphere!


	7. Chapter 7

_Excerpt from “ Epistle to the Word of New Syrtis” (3031):_  
  
“All societies have dreamed of a golden age in their past. One of the earliest examples of writing known to us laments the corruption and idleness of the current generation and looks backward to the days of their fathers and grandfathers as the time when everything is better. In this at least humanity remains unchanged: we may stride across the stars like gods incarnate, but we still long for the good old days.  
  
We must never forget that even though we seek peace and prosperity for all humanity, that which we lionize as the glories of the past were not so glorious as memory and myth would have them look. The Star League was an empire created by men, and like all creations of men it was fallible and ultimately doomed to fail. Worse, we can see the roots of its failure in the moment of its creation. When the Cameron family decreed that the Great Houses would be allowed to retain all their territory and authority in exchange for oaths of vassalization, this was where the Star League failed. So long as the edifice of the League was tied to one family, one _person_ then the state is one bad ruler or one great disaster away from dissolution and civil war. We see this in ancient Terran History: the Empire of Alexander, which stretched from Greece to the Indus, collapsed within months after its founder’s death. The Camerons had the greater luck in that they had a series of competent heirs but again, a dynasty is only as strong as the one on the throne.  
  
We learn from the past but in this time of great strife, as the order that has ruled man for the past five hundred years comes crashing down upon our heads, we cannot afford to emulate it any longer. If we are to continue the Blessed Blake’s work in preserving the collective knowledge of man for a return to light from shadow, then we must set aside our desire to rebuild the Star League. Even if one of the Great Houses, the Primus, one of the Periphery Lords or even Kerensky himself were to take the throne now, the same oaths that applied to the Camerons would be used to maintain order and the cycle would begin again. It is a hard thing to acknowledge, our Order has bent their minds, bodies and souls to the goal of restoring the Star League for many years now. The Blessed Blake’s goal was noble and worthy, but Blake was still human and a man of his time. In all ways his goals must remain our goals, but his methods are not our methods, and his future is no longer our future.  
  
The golden path we set ourselves upon now does not lead to the Star League. It is only through a radical change in the composition of the Inner Sphere that we will find a new golden age, one which the Star League was merely the reflected glory of. The sweeping away of the old order that we see around us is but the first birth pangs of this new age, and like many an age before the old order will not go quietly. In years past our Order sought to suppress the technologies that allowed the Great Houses to prey upon each other, but this was an endeavor doomed from the beginning: the Houses would fight with bronze spears and arrayed in phalanxes so long as they had the dropships and jumpships necessary to travel from star to star.  
  
Where then does this leave our Order’s work? We must remain the ties that bind humanity to each other, and we must tie them together without care for the old nationalities. The Successor States see their ends approach with every new dawn, and it is here that we shall bend our wills to the best of our efforts. The power of the States must be broken and diffused, and this is what I urge you my brothers and sisters in the Word to do. We must _level_ the worlds, exalt the low and make low the high, and upon that foundation build our golden path to a new world, founded on the great gifts God has given us: compassion for others, love for our children and the passionate intelligence that let us reach our current heights…”


	8. Chapter 8

  
**Welcome to the Port Krin Interwave Connection Message Board**  
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 **► Topic: Federated Suns Royal Couple Announce Birth of Heir, Spare**  
 **In: Boards ► News ► Events ► Inner Sphere**  
  
 **► BornToThePurple** _(Original Poster)_  
Posted on April 18, 3030:  
  
Word's finally reached the hinterlands that hizzoner the First Prince and his consort the Duchess of St. Ives have successfully spawned. In this case, it's apparently twins, Arthur and Morgana.  
  
The official announcement reprinted below:  


> Her Royal Highness the Duchess of St. Ives was safely delivered of a son and daughter at 0421 Avalon City time today.
> 
> Her Royal Highness and her children are all doing well.

Well, there you have it royal watchers, the long-awaited succession dispute between New Avalon and New Syrtis has been backburnered for the moment. Will Hanse take advantage of this moment of stability?  
  
 **(Showing page 3)**  
  
 **► Arthropod_Lovers_Anonymous**  
Okay, spot-check me here. Hanse is an educated guy, right? I mean, he's obviously _smart_ , you don't live through the shit the Suns took during the war and stay on top being dumb. But he knows the symbolic implications of naming your kids _Arthur_ and _Morgana_ , right?  
  
 **► McDuck**  
@A_L_A: I'm pretty sure he knows, but damifino if it's irony, arrogance or what that drives him.  
  
 **► Navi_HEY_LISTEN**  
Introducing your 3050 rookie supervillians: Arthur and Morgana Davion-Liao! Coming soon to a Capellan border near you!  
  
 **► RedSon**  
Oh Jesus don't even joke.  
  
 **► Navi_HEY_LISTEN**  
Who says I'm joking? Hanse's pride is pretty beat to shit and his wife wants to reclaim her dad's old place on Sian. (I hear they're using it as a hotel these days.) Those poor kids are basically doomed from the get-go.  
  
 **► VoidCowboy**  
That’s a good point. We can pretty well expect the next time the AFFS moves it’ll be in the general direction of Capella. They’ve got motive and they’re probably banking on the Union being unable to defend itself.  
  
 **► Capella_Uber_Alles**  
That’ll be goddamned hilarious, @VoidCowboy. The Union keeps pretty strong borders on the Expanse model - they might not be able to drive to New Avalon, but they don’t have to. The Feddies would be walking into a meat grinder.  
  
 **► The_Body_Electric** _(Federation Starfleet)_  
There’re other targets for the Wrath of Hanse, btw. Capella’s the obvious target because of the personal connection of course, but don’t forget that Davion and Kurita still want each other dead (even if neither’s in a position where they can do anything about it yet), Hanse is still pissed about Melissa Steiner’s everything and then the OWA have abandoned notational Davion “protection” for the Spaceship and Sun.  
  
In fact right now that’s where our attention is focused (when we’re not dealing with problems in the Expanse fwiw): The Admiralty has ordered Second and Third Fleets to Alpheratz to help shore up the border worlds. Hopefully Hanse will get the message, but he’s pretty good at ignoring things he doesn’t want to hear.  
  
 **► Wilson_Wade_Wilson** _(Port Krin Veteran)_  
It is just me, or is it really depressing that in a thread about a birth announcement we’re talking about the poor schmucks Hanse is going to use that birth as a pretext to invade?  
  
 **► McDuck**  
That’s the Inner Sphere, baby. Be sure to try the veal.


	9. Chapter 9

His Grace Michael Hasek-Davion, the Duke of New Syrtis  
Saso, Mawreddog, New Syrtis, FS  
10 July 3024

  
The Honorable Thomas Calderon, Protector of the Realm, TC  
Samantha City, Taurus  
  
My dear Thomas,  
  
Please forgive the lateness of my reply, there was business at court I couldn't avoid and I felt it better to write you from the comfort of my own study instead of risking prying eyes reading this before you. I trust your meeting with the new players went well, or at least weren't utterly bewildering. I've yet to meet them, sadly, but the reports I get are most entertaining. The sheer cheek they display is as refreshing as it is shocking--I'm honestly surprised the old lioness hasn't hunted them to the ends of the galaxy yet. Though I suppose their circuit is a circle, so perhaps she's lying in wait with a battalion at their destination. Ah, to be alive in such times, Thomas! These new players have brought fresh air to our stale old game. I do hope they survive the changes they bring, it would be dreadfuly dull if they were crushed and things returned to the status quo ante bellum, like our mutual acquaintance would like.   
  
Which brings us to your proposal. I freely admit that I am interested. It's certainly a more compelling offer than the one my other neighbors have proposed. The nature of the game is changing and I expect it may be better--or at least safer--to be a little lord than a great one. Recent events in the dragon's lair and the celestial halls seem to bear that out, and I expect that the fox's stronghold may be built on shifting sand. I once thought that I or my son might have a place there, but no, I will never be more than a marcher lord and my son the Prince's pet. So be it. Everything he has wrought will fall under its own weight and our people will be safe from his schemes and his wars once and for all.  
  
My demesne will follow our banner, if not the rest of the march. Not unexpected all told, but as my demesne is the best-developed part of the march it will be enough. My son will most likely balk at joining us outright, but I expect I should be able to win him over with the right assurances. All of this of course rests on our enemies being distracted enough to give us time to plan and position ourselves accordingly, but if my sources are right we have an embarrassment of riches in that regard. The Fen and their great ship leave an equally great wake in their path, and many things have been stirred up.  
  
If we are agreed to do this, then our hour is coming around. Not today, nor next month nor even next year, but soon. The drums are starting to sound again and old enemies seek each other out. We must be ready when the time is right. May I possibly interest you in a meeting on one of the border worlds in the next few months? We should meet face-to-face to work out the finer details of your proposal.  
  
Sincerely yours,  
I remain  
Michael Hasek-Davion


	10. Chapter 10

_Excerpt from XCOM Internal Security document "Twoflower Intelligence Concerns" (3023):  
_  
"The nature of the spacecraft, its mission and the technology it embodies means, naturally, that operations will be rife with espionage. While we estimate that the number of spies aboard _Twoflower_ will be significantly fewer than the number in Port Krin or aboard _Megaroad_ , we can expect upwards of a hundred operatives trying to glean as much as they can from observations at any given time during the mission.  
  
Security priorities are as follows:

  1. The ship's engineering crew
  2. The diplomatic mission
  3. Documents relating to Operations TAIL WAG, GOLDEN APPLE, LONG LANCE and TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT.



Ship's engineers are to be prioritized over the diplomatic mission as per XCOM Council directive 98-102. Diplomatic security also falls under this directive however the specialized technical knowledge in the engineering teams is believed to be at higher risk and will be prioritized as such..."


	11. Chapter 11

_Excerpt from “Epistle to the Word of Epsilon Indi” (3029):_  
  
“Was the Star League necessary? As the storm rages once again against our houses, this is the question we ask.  
  
The Blessed Blake would no doubt argue the absolute necessity of the Star League, but as I remind you again Blake was a man of his time and place. Born and raised at the height of Terran power, Blake could not doubt the need for the League which sheltered him no more than he could doubt his need for oxygen. Yet, had Blake been a man of Alpheratz or Taurus, his opinion would have been remarkably different. The Periphery would argue the Star League was no more than the motherworld reasserting power over Humanspace it had lost centuries before, and there is great truth in their argument.  
  
And yet the Star League did much that was unambiguously good. The end of the Age of War stabilized known space in a way it hadn’t been for generations, and the following resurgence of culture and science are the glories that drive us. But the price paid for that good was high; the sins of Reunification, the corruption of the Camerons and the Fall, and the centuries of war over the succession. Blake sought to restore the _pax Terra_ , but is it truly worth it? We ask these questions not to sow doubt but rather to learn and understand the past. Blake himself said that those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it. For two hundred and fifty years now we have repeated the Age of War because of our blindness. We must know our roots before branching out.”


	12. Chapter 12

  
**THE UNDISPUTED KING OF THE LAND AND AIR: THE KNG-1 KOENIG!**  
Brought to you by Defiance Industries: Go Big or Go Home

  
  
**Type/Model:** KNG-1 Koenig LAM  
 **Mass:** 110 tons  
 **Tech Base:** Hybrid  
 **Production Year:** 3034  
 **Chassis:** Koenig Model 0  
 **Walking Speed:** 45 km/hr  
 **Max Speed:** 1,700 km/hr @ 10,000 m  
 **Jump Jets:** Yes  
 **Armor:** Durallex Heavy  
  
 **Standard Armament Configuration:**

  * 4x 320mm electromagnetic autocannon
  * 1x Autocannon/5
  * 2x LRM/3 launchers
  * 2x MRM/4 launchers
  * GUARDIAN anti-missile defense laser array



**Manufacturer:** Defiance Industries  
 **Primary Factory:** Hesperus II  
 **Communications System:** Dalban Comline  
 **Targeting & Tracking System:** Angst Accuracy  
  
Overview:  
  
Defiance Industries developed the Koenig using technology “acquired” (read: stolen) from Fen sources, specifically advanced data on Land-Air Mech studies done by the Greenwood conglomerate. Using this information Defiance set out to build a super-heavy assault LAM, completely unlike anything the corporation had ever built before. In this the Koenig was reasonably successful; at 110 tons it was the heaviest LAM ever built, and with the addition of proprietary and acquired handwavium technology capable of independent flight. The Koenig was also armed with four monstrous autocannon that made the mech a walking, flying naval artillery battery, along with as many secondary weapons as the Defiance engineers could strap onto the thing.  
  
Unfortunately for the commercial viability of the Koenig Defiance’s unfamiliarity with handwavium resulted in a mech that, while the pinnacle of Lyran heavy battlemech design, was particularly temperamental and difficult to handle. Defiance treated the Koenig program as a (fairly expensive) learning experience and moved on: data gleaned from building the Koenigs was refined in future projects like the Pantera scout mech and the eighth-generation Atlas-X. The four Koenigs constructed for the test program were presented by the corporation as gifts to Archon Melissa after the birth of her daughter Victoria in 3035. The impressive-looking assault mechs quickly became part of the Triad’s royal guard, replacing the Griffins standing guard in the throne room on Tharkad.


	13. Chapter 13

_Excerpt from “Epistle to the Word of Caph” (3028):_  
  
“Unification. This one word veils a rich fantasy, one which prophets and conquerors have glimpsed and strived for for much of human history. And yet when we peel back the veil we can see the fantasy for exactly what it is.  
  
The guiding principle of the Star League in its hour was the unity of the human race under one flag. This was likewise the guiding principle of the Terran Alliance, who won Terra but ultimately lost her children. And yet both nations ultimately failed in their goals. Even in the pre-interstellar period when the Terran Alliance held much of that world under its sway there were still dissenters, those who fought against political unification and saw it as yet another tool of domination, like the ancient American and Soviet Empires, the still-older European empires or the distant empires of preindustrial antiquity.  
  
When the first jumpship was built, even the pretense of unification ceased to be credible. Those who sought a way out from under Terra swiftly boarded jumpships and vanished into the Galaxy. Those who settled nearer Terra would, eventually, lead the Outer Reaches in revolt and give birth to the modern Inner Sphere. Countless others would flee as far from Terra as they could; our brothers and sisters in the Explorer Corps have found many such worlds in their travels. We may then safely say that the true battle for unification was lost generations before Ian Cameron proclaimed his grand intent. We are too many and too scattered to be unified in the ways that the drafters of the Alliance, or McKenna or Cameron or even villains like Amaris might have wished.  
  
But make no mistake, we _are_ united by our common humanity. Whatever else we may be, those of us born on Terra, on New Avalon, on Canopus IV, on Caph, on some long-forgotten colony a thousand light years from the Inner Sphere, we are all the children of an unbroken evolutionary legacy that ties us all together. Until a few short years ago, all the humans in the Universe came from that one world--even though God has seen fit to grace us with a spare for His own purposes. All of us may look to the skies and seek out that small yellow star under which our ancestors grew and looked outwards, and we may marvel at how far we’ve come, and how far we have yet to go.  
  
Our Golden Path is long, but it is worth the travelling.”


	14. Chapter 14

July 19 3023

  
MEMORANDUM FOR THE FIRST PRINCE:  
  
CLASSIFICATION: OZMA  
  
Your Highness:  
  
Our analysts have gotten their hands on decent images of the Fen “embassy ship” TWOFLOWER and have been going over what we know about the ship with a fine-toothed comb. The full technical analysis is attached for your reading, but I wanted to draw your attention to the ship’s sigil:  
  


> The central device is the rocket-and-sun that we’ve seen the Fen display since they took control of Port Krin last year, nothing unsurprising there. What our analysts find interesting however is the circle of flags surrounding that device: all pre-alliance Terran national flags, almost like a “greatest hits” collection of powerful Terran nations, though the analysts are so far quick to note some odd discrepancies like the lack of a Soviet Union flag.  
  
Our current thinking is that whatever else these Fen may be, they might have stemmed from a collection of Alliance dissidents who struck out for what was then the Deep Periphery to get as far away from Terra as possible. They kept the flags as a sign of national identity and to distinguish themselves as not Alliance until the current “Fen” culture became dominant. We’re unsure how they managed to avoid Combine or Star League notice until now, though. It’s a working theory anyway. I’ve also attached a preliminary psychological writeup for you.  
  
A minority of our analysts are taking the current story running around Port Krin at face value--that the Fen are some sort of castaways who were transported from an alternate history to just off the Inner Sphere by parties unknown. It’s a great story, but so far we don’t have any hard confirmation one way or the other. If Operation Trailblazer doesn’t produce any immediate results then we may as well just ask them when they get here next year.  
  
<signature>  
Quintus Allard


	15. Chapter 15

_Excerpt from Port Krin Chat Connection thread "WTF Planets?" dated 19 September 3026:  
_

Midnight Cowboy said:

> So we all know the story about how Tellus and Terra are supposed to be duplicates of each other, right? Well, I was working on some astronavigation homework the other night & I came across a source that says that Tellus has somewhere between nine and FIFTEEN planets in its system. Terra only has 8! If they're duplicates, shouldn't they be identical? What the hell?

THE_TRUTH said:

> I KNEW IT! This False Terra myth the Fen invaders keep pushing is CLEARLY a LIE!

Murakumo said:

> Dammit, the Pluto War claims yet another victim.
> 
> OP, for the record the official number of planets in the Tellus system is 9. Terra might have 9 too, but I don't know if anybody ever went looking for it.

Midnight Cowboy said:

> Pluto War? Is that a Fenspace thing or what? I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that in Terran history.
> 
> And what do you mean Terra might have a ninth planet? How do you not find something like a planet? They're PLANETS for god's sake.

Murakumo said:

> The Pluto War is ancient academic history for you Spheroids. For us, it's a more recent butthurt.
> 
> The short version: Back in the 2000s there was a question about whether or not Pluto was a planet. In the end the scientific community decided that it wasn't one, but a lot of people disagreed. Loudly. And this was just before the whole handwavium thing happened, too, so there was some of *that* crazy floating around the fringes. Eventually everybody calmed down and life went on as usual.

Arthropod Lovers Anonymous said:

> Okay, that makes sense... kind of. In the way that nothing about Tellus seems to make sense. Seems weird that people would care so much about a chunk of icy rock way the hell out on the fringes of the system though.
> 
> And what's this about another planet? And where do they get the fifteen count from?

Entwhistle said:

> The ninth planet's actually kind of a neat story. This happened really recently, like around the same time the Event happened, even though we didn't know about it at the time. See, a couple astronomers at Cal Tech were looking at the orbits of outer system objects like Pluto and they noticed that their orbits were all weird in a very specific way. Like they'd all been disturbed by something really big over a long period of time, savvy? So when they published, they also released a general idea of where this thing, which they called Planet Nine, might be.
> 
> It was the biggest gold rush in the system almost since the end of the war, or even the first big boom back in '07. Prospectors started crawling all over the target zone, around 2-300 AU out from the sun. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE wanted to be the famous discoverer of a new planet: that wasn't a huge thing in general, I mean we'd already had a bunch of people looking at the nearer stars and stuff, but a new planet in our home system? That was GOLD.
> 
> A couple months later and boom, we have a new planet, a baby gas giant named Fortuna.

Murakumo said:

> What Entwhistle doesn't mention is that Fortuna might be in the Terra system, too. I don't think anybody knows if the same scientists lived on Terra in the 21st, or if they did the same basic survey that found evidence for Fortuna. And of course, 200 AU is a hell of a long way to roll if you don't know what you're looking for or where it is. I imagine astronomers are pointing scopes in the general direction as we speak.

Midnight Cowboy said:

> Wow. That's actually cool. A whole new planet just hiding in the darkness.
> 
> But like ALA said, what about the fifteen count? That seems like more heavy lifting than finding a new planet.

Entwhistle said:

> The high planet count is fallout from the Pluto War, sort of. Let me break it down.
> 
> First off, you've got the eight classical planets: **Mercury** , **Venus** , **Earth** , **Mars** , **Jupiter** , **Saturn** , **Uranus** and **Neptune**.
> 
> Then there's **Fortuna**. We've got one, and like 'kumo says we're kinda pretty sure Terra's got one too, it's just nobody went looking for it yet. That's nine.
> 
> Now we start getting into the weeds a little. Your astronav books probably have a classification for things called "dwarf planets." Dwarfs are bigger than most asteroids--big enough that gravity makes them properly round--but not big enough to sweep their orbital paths of junk. This classification was the whole point of the Pluto War and it ground a lot of gears with a lot of people.
> 
> So what, right? Well, a bunch of second opinions classify the largest known dwarfs in the Tellus system as planets of their own. That's **Ceres** (yes, the big asteroid), **Pluto** (of course), **Haumea** , **Makemake** and **Eris**. That makes fourteen.
> 
> Planet Fifteen is kind of a toss-up and involves stuff that's probably a big cosmological difference between the Inner Sphere and Fenspace. The fifteenth planet might be **Nostromo** , which is a big gas giant found around the same time as the Fortuna hunt started waaaaay the hell out in the middle of nowhere like literally a couple light-months away from the sun. At first there was speculation that Nostromo might be Planet Nine, but it's not in the right place and it's so far away that it never would've interacted with anything so close as 200 AU. We're not entirely sure if it's actually gravitationally bound to the sun, either. It might be a rogue that wandered in, and eventually it'll wander out.
> 
> The other candidate for Planet Fifteen is the planet **Azkaban** , which orbits Voldemort's Eye. Voldemort's Eye is a brown dwarf companion of our sun--again, not sure if it's bound or just passing through--and it has a habitable planet, which was something of a stir when we discovered it because brown dwarfs are freaking puny stars that probably shouldn't have _planets_ , much less habitable ones.
> 
> So to sum up, Midnight Cowboy, your source probably:  
> a) believes dwarf planets are planets  
> b) probaably believes Nostromo is gravitationally bound to Sol or  
> c) believes that the Eye is bound to Sol
> 
> And that's how you squeeze fifteen planets out of an eight-planet system.   
> 

Midnight Cowboy said:

> That's really informative, thanks Ent!
> 
> I guess it goes to show that even the little differences can build up into something big.
> 
> Anybody got any suggestions for staying on top of the ninth planet in Terra?

Harq al-Ada said:

> Comstar News has a decent science subchannel, the Path to Knowledge. Not hugely popular, sadly, but good for keeping abreast of the pure science news coming out around the Inner Sphere.

THE_TRUTH said:

> Lies, all lies.... the ALIEN masters of the FANDOM MENACE continue to spread falsehoods in order to destroy good MEN of ChARACTER and FAITH seducing them into the web of darkness that is their VILE SATANIC POWER!
> 
> DO NOT BE DECIEVED BY THESE CREATURES!
> 
> THE POWER OF THE FEN COMES FROM THE BLACKEST PITS OF HELL!
> 
> DO NOT LISTEN TO THEIR LIES! STAND UP, YE SHEEP, AND CAST OFF THESE WOLVES! IT IS WRITTEN!


	16. Chapter 16

25 May 3023

CLASSIFICATION: MOST SECRET

  
MEMORANDUM FOR: Keeper of the Family Honor Kurita Constance  
  
FROM: Tai-sa Anderson Eimi  
  
SUBJECT: Utaitsuzuke Activity Report  
  
Kurita-dono, attached to this memorandum is a detailed report on the actions of the group known as "Utaisuzuke" over the previous three months. In summary:

  * The group continues to spread among the disaffected populations of the Rasalhauge Military District and the outer reaches of the Pesht District.
  * ISF attempts to suppress Utaisuzuke have been at best marginally effective. Crackdowns on Rasalhague and other major worlds within the affected areas allow ISF to claim victory, but the majority of Utaisuzuke members melt back into the population too easily.
  * Our agents are having extreme difficulty penetrating the Utaisuzuke network. The group seems to operate on a basic cell system, which may require the use of deep-cover agents if we are to get anywhere close to the leadership.
  * We have some leads on the group figurehead, an individual using the name "Quellcrist Falconer." The name suggests a Federated Suns or Free Worlds League origin, though this is likely a pseudonym. It is also possible that this Falconer is a complete fiction used to obfuscate the true identity of the person responsible.
  * Of worrying note we believe we have seen connections between Utaisuzuke and the "technomage" phenomenon in the vicinity of the Dark Nebula.
  * Lastly, ISF believes that Utaisuzuke is stockpiling material for some future purpose. The exact purpose is currently unknown.



By your leave, I humbly request further resources to investigate this group. While they have yet to act openly, it cannot be doubted that Utaisuzuke intends to damage or tear the fabric of our society. We must protect House Kurita and the Draconis Combine from this shadowy threat no matter the cost.  
  
<seal>  
ANDERSON, Adept of Thought Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Utaisuzuke" according to the never-wrong font of knowledge known as Google Translate means "keep singing." Sounds about right for a folk-song rebellion, ne? :)


End file.
